City of My Heart
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments): August Event (Hogwarts Arts Festival): Week 3 (John Bellany): Edinburgh (Pinterest: 548876273306363367)
Word Count: 702
Analysis: It's Edinburgh. I can in no way even attempt to explain or describe my city, especially as circumstances outside of my control have ruined any time management this week, but these are just a few snippets of emotion that try to convey my feelings for this place. I'd really like to add to this at some point so come September (when this August thing is over) expect a ton more of this. I love you Edinburgh.
It is raining. This doesn't bother her though; it is always raining. She thinks that Scotland must be the rainiest place in the whole world. Today the fact that it is raining is excellent as it means that she wear her brand new welly boots. They are red and shiny, and she jumps into a puddle, giggling at the splashes that fly up.
Suddenly she is dragged backwards as a taxi comes racing around the corner, sending up a spray of water. She loves the black cabs that patrol the streets of Edinburgh like watchful guards.
For a while the little girl runs ahead. She pushes through the crowds of people. All of them have their coats turned up against the harsh winds and they all tower above her. The umbrellas with their pretty patterns twirl overhead as the people rush by, all of them busy going places and doing things.
Now she is older, almost ready to go to Hogwarts. She follows her father carefully as they make their way towards where she knows the hidden entrance to the magical part of the city is. She cannot wait to go to school, but she knows that it means leaving her home, and how can she possibly bear to do that? She doesn't know, because leaving Edinburgh would be like walking out of her life. It will mean that she will lose her familiarity with these streets, that she will no longer know the city like the back of her hand.
She is back from school on holiday. It is Christmas, and the fair is here. She drags behind her a boy who is a little older than her, and together they don skates and breathlessly race around and around the ice rink.
Later, they step through the market together. She admires the scent of the candles and gasps at the ornate baubles while he fills himself with crepes. It is still there, as if nothing has changed, although she has been away for so long, and is so much older.
She has her first kiss on the top of the ferris wheel, and remains breathless as her carriage continues downwards towards the ground once more. She thinks that never before has the city looked so beautiful, so full of light and life.
It is not long before the snow has melted and she is heading back to school, the boy she was with fading back into the crowd of muggles back home.
She stands alone at Waverly Station, waiting for the train bound for King's Cross. She begins to read through her Transfiguration textbook, a refresher of what is undoubtedly her favourite class. Everywhere she looks there are people, and she realises that this is the joy of Edinburgh, that the tiny city is filled with so many different journeys, so many hopes and dreams.
Years later, when she has survived two wars, she finds herself alone in her city once again. She slips easily into her cat form, wanting for just a moment to forget herself as she runs through familiar streets.
It is only when she stops running and morphs back into her human form that she realises she is lost.
It is late, and men reel out of pubs across the pavements stinking of alcohol. Women in stupidly tall shoes zig zag along the pavement and streetlights flicker overhead. People, draped in blankets, huddle against the wall and her heart wrenches as she realises that her beautiful city has been hiding it's ugly side all this time. She has her wand, but she cannot use it here.
She reaches for a wall, running her hand over the rough stone surface in an attempt to calm herself, and suddenly she knows where she is. She slips down a narrow tunnel, hurries up a stone staircase and finds herself once more in the heart of the city.
The city, for once, is quiet. Cars still move along the street, people still hurry arm in arm, but most of the lights are gone. Sighing lightly, she sits down at a bus stop, resigning herself to the unavoidable wait.
Edinburgh is far from perfect, but it is home.